This invention relates to the production of a refried bean product having excellent and uniform quality. More particularly the invention relates to a hydration process for producing a refried bean product having the characteristic flavor, texture and color of conventional refried beans.
Canned refried beans are enjoying increasing popularity as adjuncts to Mexican-style foods, particularly as a replacement to “homemade” refried beans. Canned refried are easier and faster to prepare compared to refried beans that are made from scratch.
It is difficult, however, to maintain the consistency of desirable characteristics of a canned refried bean product from day to day. Moreover, the characteristics of a refried bean product prepared from one lot of beans may vary considerably from those of a refried bean product prepared from another lot of beans. Such lack of uniformity of a canned product characteristics is particularly disadvantageous because the consumer expects the canned product to be consistent from one can to another. In order to compensate for these types of problems, manufactures have had to err on the side of increasing dry matter in the canned product which is very detrimental to overall cost of the product.